Hundreds of Brazilians and some legends of the National Team said goodbye to Mario Jorge Zagallo, the only one with four World Cups in the world of football, was buried this Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. The “Old Wolf”, who had been in failing health for a decade, died at midnight on Friday at the age of 92 in a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, the city where he began his football career as a left winger for the América club. .
The wake was at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), whose façade bore a sign that read “Zagallo Eterno”, a phrase with “13 letters”, the favorite number of the “Old Wolf”, who admitted be superstitious like few others.
Next to the coffin, a 1.70 meter wax statue, his height, which shows him in his coach’s uniform, and the five World Cups won by Brazil, of which four were won by teams that had the “Old Wolf “among its members.
They were in Sweden 1958 and Chile 1962 as a player, in Mexico 1970 as a coach and in the United States 1994 as technical coordinator.
Despite the importance of Zagallo, in Brazil the few football personalities who appeared attracted attention. Among them, Zinho, Grafite, Mazinho, Gilmar Rinaldi, Mauro Silva, Cafú and Bebetoformer players of the Brazilian team and who at some point had Zagallo as their coach.
Bebeto, who shone as a forward in Spain with Deportivo La Coruña and Sevilla, remembered Zagallo as “a guy who never gave up” and stated that he was his “greatest reference and teacher” in football.
“An always positive guy, who was contagious in the locker room” and “encouraged his players like no one else,” added Bebeto, world champion in the United States in 1994.
Former Flamengo coach and current coach Adenor Leonardo Bachi “Tite” was also present, along with directors from the Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama clubs, the big four of Rio de Janeiro in which Zagallo acted as a player or coach.
The president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, valued Zagallo’s “gigantic legacy” for world football and announced that the entity will prepare “a series of tributes” to “honor his memory” throughout this year.
After the wake, the coffin, covered with CBF, FIFA and Conmebol flags, was transported by a fire truck to the São João Batista cemetery, in the Botafogo neighborhood.
There, those three flags were replaced by one of Brazil and the “Old Wolf” was buried in a ceremony reserved for his closest family and friends, who said goodbye to him with a long round of applause.